Decline in COVID-19 cases continue in T'gana; six on Tuesday
Hyderabad, Apr 28 () The decline in COVID-19 cases inTelangana continued on Tuesday with only sixfresh cases beingreported as Health Minister E Rajender hoped the trend wouldcontinue and the pandemic would soon end in the state withoutmore deaths.
With these six cases, the total number of positive casesin the state has risen to 1,009.
No fresh death occurred and the number of people who dieddue to the virus continued to remain at25, Rajender said.
Forty two people were discharged today, taking the numberofpeople discharged after recovery to 374, he said.
The number of active cases in the state stood at 610.
The Minister told reporters that the Centre and IndianCouncil of Medical Researh had appreciated the state for theeffective steps taken to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, in a videoconference, told him to thank Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao, he said.
Dismissing the criticism in some quarters that Telanganawas not conducting enough tests compared to its neighbouringstate (an apparent reference to Andhra Pradesh), he said theICMR guidelines state that tests should be done on those whoare symptomatic and not on those who do not show symptoms.
"Even swabs will be difficult to be taken for healthypeople," he said.
The number of tests conducted by the state government wasnot low either,he said and referred to the nationwide figures.
Across the nation, over 7.16 lakh tests were conductedand there were 29,434 positive cases, which worked out to 4.1per cent, the minister said.
In Telangana, 19,063 tests were conducted and the numberof positive cases was 1,009 (as on Tuesday), which was 5.3 percent, he said.
"Telangana is effectively implementing the guidelines ofICMR andthe Centre without indiscriminate testing," he said.
He also said most of those who tested positive areasymptomatic.
Stating that the new guidelines of the Centre suggestedhome quarantining of those who tested positive, he said therewould be only a few people left in the state-run Gandhihospital in the city, where positive patients are treated, ifthose guidelines are followed.
The Minister said many nations have chosen to treatonly those who are in serious condition.
The state government wanted to discharge patientsafter they tested negative, he said.
Hoping that the decline in number of cases wouldcontinue, he said: By May 8 we hope it may happen or may nothappen, (those undergoing treatment) would recover fully andthe pandemic would end without any deaths.
"We wish that public life continues normally andTelangana progresses again, he said.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT),which has been on a visit to the state to assess the COVID-19situation, visited the headquarters of the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation to know the functioning of its controlroom and also a shelter where some migrant workers have beenput up. SJR APRRAVINDRANATH APRRAVINDRANATH